Joseph Palmore

Practice Areas

Joe Palmore co-chairs Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice and is the Managing Partner of its Washington, D.C. office. Chambers USA describes him as “an outstanding oral advocate,” who is “calm, focused, effective and doesn’t back down,” and has “complete command of the facts.” Joe “writes great briefs” (Chambers USA), with one client recounting that “the Court mirrored the language he thoughtfully chose in its ultimate order” (Legal 500).

During a recent U.S. Supreme Court term, Joe successfully argued two cases: Law360 called one of them (Thole v. U.S. Bank) a “landmark ruling” that “made huge waves in the ERISA litigation arena” and named the other (Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian) one of the “biggest environmental law decisions” of the year. Joe’s oral argument before the Supreme Court on the preemptive scope of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in CTS Corp. v. Waldburger was described in the National Law Journal as “brilliant” and a “template for anyone arguing a statutory case before these nine justices in the future.”